"7^  rr 


Ci»cui*a   No.  03.  Rcvimt*   Coition, »•  1 


lev  ti»   CoiJ 

United  Sum  iimp., 


\U    OK     ICNTOMO 


THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  STEP  IN  THE  CONTROL  OF  THE 

BOLL  Uli: ML. 

W.  D.  II 

the  boll 

i't  in  il  ii  third  of  the  total  i 

3  thia  ii  b<  en  coi  y  less  than  normal. 

■  prinri]  onal  climatic  con- 

numbei  rite 

■  conditions  did  nol 
e  crop  I 
inii.i. 

nter  the  weevil 

m  will  b  .    jn  ,),,. 

uring  tl  •  i:ir  points  ■ 

i  .ii. 
It  ted  out  in  pu  the  Department 

lure  that  thi  importai  oiling   the   boll 

■  the  plants  from  the  fiel  i  ble 

in  neof  th<  •       | 

.  lv 
Much  subsequent  work  I 
•t  ion.      I 
■ 

largely  ■  mt  of  the  practical  dif- 

.ii.l  the  scarcity  of  labor  which 

d  with  picking  oul  the  crop. 

"  "f  thi  ty  for  pr  •  arly  crop  in  i  rder  to 

boll  weevil  an 

Iture  thai 

of 

ni';  p  is 

bu1  | 

traction  in  the  fall  tt,.r  0j 

of   fall 

i  uction. 

In  the  fall  of  '  pri(,_ 

in  the 
'•     An  -  found  in  Texas  wh< 

•n  were  grown.  ■  ,n  crown 


in  any  direction  nearer  than  15  miles.  Through  an  agent  of  the  Bureau, 
Mr.  J.  D.  Mitchell,  to  whom  great  credit  is  due  for  the  direct  manage- 
ment of  the  matter,  arrangements  were  made  by  contract  with  the 
farmers  concerned,  under  which  all  the  cotton  plants  were  uprooted  and 
burned  during  the  first  ten  days  in  October.  Provision  was  also  made 
to  prevent  the  growing  of  volunteer  or  sprout  cotton.  In  this  way  an 
opportunity  was  obtained  for  an  ideal  experiment  to  show  what  can 
be  accomplished  by  the  procedure  that  is  now  recommended  by  the 
Department.  About  15  miles  from  the  locality  in  which  the  experi- 
ment was  performed  a  considerable  quantity  (295  acres)  of  cotton  was 
grown.  In  this  region  the  stalks  were  not  destroyed  in  the  fall,  and 
observations  made  here  have  been  used  as  a  check  upon  the  experi- 
mental area.  The  class  of  farmers  is  about  the  same  in  the  two  local- 
ities. The  experiment  was  performed  at  Olivia,  in  Calhoun  County, 
Tex.,  and  the  cotton  utilized  as  a  check  was  located  at  Six  Mile,  a  set- 
tlement across  Lavaca  Ba}',  in  the  same  count}'. 

Mr.  Mitchell  visited  the  Olivia  and  Six  Mile  localities  early  in  May. 
1907.  At  that  time,  in  the  former  area,  extensive  search  revealed  but  a 
single  weevil.  In  the  Six  Mile  localit}',  however,  the  weevils  were  so 
numerous  that  practically  all  the  squares  had  become  infested.  Other 
examinations  were  made,  all  of  which  showed  the  same  advantage  in 
regard  to  freedom  from  the  weevil  of  the  area  in  which  the  stalks  were 
destroyed.  On  August  20  Mr.  Mitchell  found  an  average  of  over  10 
bolls  per  plant  at  Olivia  and  only  3  bolls  per  plant  in  the  check  area. 

The  conspicuous  results  of  the  experiment,  however,  are  revealed  bjr 
the  increased  yield  shown  after  the  cotton  was  picked.  The  average  in 
all  fields  at  Olivia  was  0.41  bale  as  against  0.15  at  Six  Mile.  This 
increase  of  slightly  over  a  quarter  of  a  bale  per  acre  (to  be  exact,  0.26 
bale)  was  due  to  the  destruction  of  the  stalks.  In  order  to  determine 
the  exact  financial  advantage  to  the  farmers  at  the  Olivia  locality,  a 
calculation  has  been  made  on  the  basis  of  the  separate  sale  of  lint  and 
seed.  At  Olivia  the  crop  following  the  destruction  of  the  plants  aver- 
aged 615  pounds  of  seed  cotton  per  acre,  that  is,  205  pounds  of  lint 
and  410  pounds  of  seed.  At  the  Six  Mile  settlement  the  average  yield 
of  seed  cotton  per  acre  was  225  pounds,  that  is,  75  pounds  of  lint  and 
150  pounds  of  seed.  It  is  evident  that  the  work  done  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  th,e  plants  at  Olivia  resulted  in  the  gain  of  130  pounds  of  lint 
and  260  pounds  of  cotton  seed  per  acre.  On  the  basis  of  a  value  of  10 
cents  per  pound  for  the  lint  and  of  $12  per  ton  lor  the  seed,  the  increase 
amounted  to  $14.56  per  acre.  This  is  about  29  times  the  cost  of  uproot- 
ing and  burning  the  plants  the  preceding  fall,  as  shown  by  the  actual 
amount  the  Department  paid  for  the  work. 

The  full  importance  of  the  results  just  mentioned  can  not  be  realized 
until  it  is  understood  that  the. soil  at  Olivia  is  much  less  fertile  than 
that  at  Six  Mile.  Mr.  Mitchell,  who  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
productiveness  of  lands  in  that  part  of  the  State,  estimated  that  the  Six 
Mile  land  is  at  least  a  third  more  fertile  than  that  at  Olivia.  This  esti- 
mate was  more  than  borne  out  bjr  the  amount  of  seed  produced  at 
the  two  places  during  the  season  of  1907.  At  Six  Mile  the  average 
height  of  the  plants,  determined  by  measuring,  was  4  feet,  while  at 
Olivia  the  average  was  2.2  feet.  The  estimate  recorded  of  the  advan- 
tage resulting  from  the  work  at  Olivia  is  made  without  reference  to  this 
difference  in  fertility. 

A6 — 22 


Tin1  praotii  .il  experiment,  a*  ha  stated,  return  tially 

_"'  times  the  cosl  of  the  n  outlay.     Under  other  conditions  this 

advantage  would  necessarily  be  smaller.  The  experiment  was  carried 
on  purposely  to  show  the  great  advantage  of  fall  destruction  where 
there  are  no  other  factors  to  interfere  with  the  results.  Where  cotton 
is  less  isolated  than  that  at  Olivia  then-  will  be  less  effective  results,  of 
course,  on  account  of  the  influx  of  weevils  from  fields  thai  may  not 
have  been  properly  treated,  Nevertheless,  such  conditions  could  not 
My  obliterate  all  effectiveness,  tn  fact,  only  the  most  extreme 
and  exceptional  conditions  could  possibly  result  in  reducing  the  advan- 
obtained  in  the  exp<  riment  by  more  than  60  per  cent.  That  means 
that  any  cotton  planter,  by  the  process  of  fall  destruction,  can  insure 
himself  an  increased  yield  to  the  value  ol  -'10  per  acre  by  a 

Small  amount  of  work  at  the  proper  time  in  the  fall. 

REA8JI  >fi    THE    DESTRU<  THE    PLANT8   IN    THK   PALL. 

There  are  four  principal  reasons  why  the  process  of  fall  destruction 

recommended  in  this  circular  should  be  practiced  universally  by  plant- 
in  infested  regioi 

First. — Fall  destruction  prevents  absolutely  the  development  of  a 
multitude  of  weevils  which  would  otherwise  become  adult  within  a  few 
weeks  of  the  time  of  hibernation.  The  destruction  of  the  immature 
9  of  weevils  in  infested  squares  and  bolls  is  accomplished,  while 
the  further  growth  of  squares,  which  may  become  infested  later,  i- 
pre Vented.  This  stops  materially  the  development  of  weevils  which 
would  normally  hibernal  -study,   and   by  thus  decreasing  the 

number  of  weevils  which  will  emerge  in  the  spring  the  chances  for  a 
successful  crop  the  follow;  n  are  very  greatly  increase  d. 

"itil.  —  A  proper  manipulation  of  the  stalks  will  bring  about  the 
destruction  of  a  great  majority  of  the  weevils  which  are  already  adult. 
This  will  be  accomplished  partly  by  causing  the  starvation  of  many 
weevils  before  the  natural  time  for  hibernation,  and  partly  by  exposure 
to  severe  cold  during  the  fall  and  winter. 

Third.  —  It  has  been  shown  conclusively  that  the  bulk  of  the  weevils 
which  survive  the  winter  are  those  which  reach  maturity  late  in  the 
in.  It  is  evident  that  the  weevils  that  pass  the  winter  and  attack 
the  crop  of  the  following  season  are  among  thos(.  developed  latest  in 
the  fall  and  which,  in  consequence  of  that  fact,  have  not  exha 
their  vitality  by  depositii  for  any  considerable   length  of  time. 

Fall  destruction  of  the  plants,  increasing  the  length  of  the  hibernating 
period,  reduces  many  fold  the  number  of  weevils  in  the  fields  that 
would  Otherwise  emerge  in  the  spring  to  damage  the  cotton. 

Fourth. — Clearing  of  the  held  in  the  fall  makes  it  possible  to  prac- 
tice fall  plowing,  which  is  not  only  the  proper  procedure  in  any  Bystem 
of  cotton  raising,  but  also  greatly  facilitates  the  early  planting  of  the 
crop  the  following  spring.     The  groin  i  by  this  practice, 

so  that  but.  few  placet  are  left   to  the  weevils,  and  various 

climatic  conditions  still  further  reduce  the  number  of  the  survivo 

DATA    UPON    W'FIK'n   THE   FOREGOING    RT  JED. 

The  reasons  for  fall  tion   given  above  are  based  upon  a  very 

large  amount  of  data  from  actual  experiments  and  the  work  of  various 
planters.     The  information  at  hand  was  greatly  amplified  in  a  series  of 

A6— 


large-scale  experiments  carried  on  during  the  winter  of  1906-7.  Three 
large  cages  (50  by  '20  feet)  were  built  over  growing  cotton  at  Dallas, 
it,  and  Victoria,  in  Texas.  In  different  compartments  of  - 
nearly  70,000  weevils  were  placed;  several  thousand  in 
compartment.  After  the  weevils  were  piaced  inside,  the  plants  were 
removed  from  the  first  section  about  the  middle  of  October.  At  regular 
subsequent  dates  other  sections  were  treated  in  exactly  the  same  man- 
ner. Consequently  the  results  for  each  locality  show  exactly  what  a 
farmer  could  have  accomplished  by  the  destruction  of  the  plants  at  dif- 
ferent times.  The  full  results  will  be  published  in  Bulletin  77,  of  this 
Bureau,  by  Dr.  W.  E.  Hinds  and  Mr.  W.  W.  Yothers,  who  have  had  direct 
charge  of  the  work.  In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  call  attention 
to  only  a  few  features. 

In  practically  all  cases  the  smallest  survival  of  weevils  was  found  in 
those  cages  from  which  the  plants  were  removed  at  the  earliest  dates,  and 
the  number  of  survivors  increased  regularly  as  the  dates  of  destruction 
became  later.  For  instance,  at  Dallas  out  of  between  two  thousand  and 
three  thousand  weevils  in  each  cage,  only  2.5  per  cent  survived  when 
the  plants  were  removed  on  October  13;  4  per  cent  survived  destru 
of  the  food  supply  on  October  10;  G.2  per  cent  survived  destruction  on 
October  19;  12.2  per  cent  survived  destruction  on  November  6,  and 
14.7  per  cent  survived  destruction  on  November  12.  These  figures  indi- 
cate that  practical  I  if  seven  times  as  many  weevils  survived  after  destruc- 
tion of  plants  on  November  12  as  survived  after  a  similar  destruction 
on  October  13.  This  is  a  most  striking  illustration  of  the  effect  of 
early  destruction. 

In  the  cages  at  Dallas,  Calvert,  and  Victoria,  from  which  the  plants 
were  removed  in  November,  14.26  per  cent  survived,  while  4.41  per  cent 
survived  removal  of  the  plants  in  October — that  is,  the  cutting  off  of 
the  food  supply  in  November  resulted  in  the  survival  of  three  times  as 
many  weevils  as  survived  when  the  work  was  done  in  October.  These 
figures  are  based  upon  averages  of  eight  large  cages  at  the  three  locali- 
ties in  which  October  destruction  took  place,  as  compared  with  seven 
similar  cages  in  which  the  plants  were  removed  in  November. 

TIME   FOR    DESTRUCTION   OF   THE   PLANTS. 

It  is  naturally  impossible  to  fix  anj-  date  for  the  destruction  of  the 
stalks  which  would  apply  to  all  localities  and  under  all  conditions. 
The  condition  of  the  soil  must  be  considered  as  well  as  the  maturity  of 
the  crop.  While  the  condition  of  the  soil  can  not  be  controlled,  the 
time  of  the  maturity  of  the  crop,  except  in  extremely  unfavoraM 
sons,  is  largely  within  the  power  of  the  planter,  since  by  early  planting 
of  early  maturing  varieties  the  entire  crop  may  he  matured  'before  the 
usual  time  of  picking  of  the  first  cotton  from  native  seed.  Neverth 
whatever  modifications  are  necessary  in  different  localities  and  during 
different  seasons,  they  do  not  decrease  the  general  strength  of  the 
recommendations. 

The  proper  time  for  the  destruction  of  the  plants  in  the  fall  is  when- 
ever the  weevils  have  become  so  numerous  that  there  is  no  pros 
that  any  more  cotton  will  lie  made.  It  will  be  an  easy  matter  for  any 
planter  to  determine  this  point  by  an  examination  of  a  few  plants  in 
his  field.  Whenever  it  is  found  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  squares 
and  some  of  the  bolls  are  being  punctured,  there  is  no  hope  for 

A6 — 22 


■.:  am  n  ton.     The  farmer  should  tl^u  wail  until  the  bolla 

.  tlio  plant  opened,  and  destruction  Bhould  then 

I 

Tbi  u  nily  lit-  thai  tli  »uld  be  destroyed 

in  the  fall  u !  ng  damaged, 

in  September  mber.     In  the 

j  and  in  Louisiana  the  month  of  October  would 
be  the  proper  time,     tnmanj  struction  could  and  ehould 

ould  nol  be  thought  that  fall  destruc- 
tion will  ■  aed.     Even  until  much  later 
-  in  tht>  remains  of  bol  ng  t<>  the  plants  may  In 
i,  but  tl^                           a  value  the  longer  i;  rred.     Bj 
all  mean                                                                  ould  take  place  before 
struction   al 

loold  ;il t  id  u Inn  it  has  not  been 

mt<  previously. 

HE    PLANTS. 

common  p  cotton  stalk-  from  the  Gelds 

byth  .  cutter  (a  wheeled  cylinder  provided  with  knives) 

the  fall  destruction  that  Bhould  be  practiced  to  avoid 
by  the  boll  weevils.     I'll"  stalks  ren  aini  ig  in  that  case  dur- 
ing i.  3,  which  furnish  an  abundan 

ild  otherwise  starve.     Mi  ,  the  fact  thai 

this  macl  Iks  into  shorl  pieces  makes  the  necessary  col- 

ilt. 

moving  the  plants  from  the 
ground.  tethod  to  be  prefern  1.  is  to  cut  the  roots 

by  the  use  of  an  ordinary  plow.  The 
other  is  to  pull  o  r  provided  with  a 

lOtch  W  h  i   the   plant.      The   latter  pi 

the  plants  hav<  en  k i  1 1« ■■  1  by  frost. 
When  they  are  still  green,  or  the  ground  is  dry,  it  is  frequently  a  ditli- 
cult  them    wi  vera.     The   Department's 

ion,  then  plants  should  be  plowed 

out.  lould  be  collected  by 

hand  hi   together  in  large  hea] 

w  indrows.     i  lection  Bhould  t 

befon  Iry  and  have  dropped  off.     Winn  the 

plant  uprooting,  all  of  the  leaf- 

h  will    dl  B,  remains    to  facilitate  the   burnil 

If 

•  ut  two  weeks.      If  rains 

iriod,  it  would  undoubtedly  be  worth  the 

Tide  oil  sufficient  to  bring  about  the 

I 
It  i-  any  trap  row-  to  attracl  such 

i    the    burning.      The  weevil    -  have 

but  1:  •  -!  ruc- 

tion of  the  main  cr  >p  tb  '  would  probably  he  in  all  directions 

and  the  numbers  colled  be  trap  mid  consequently  be 

The  time  and  i  of  propi  o  the 


6 

hand  picking  of  the  weevils  and  infested  fruit  on  trap  rows  would  be  a 
considerable  handicap  to  the  method  on  many  plantations.  Neverthe- 
less, on  small  places  where  suitable  labor  is  abundant,  traps  could  con- 
veniently be  left.  In  such  cases  they  (should  be  situated  on  those  sides 
of  the  fields  which  are  generally  leeward.  They  should  be  examined 
daily  for  weevils  and  infested  squares  and  bolls,  which  should  be 
immersed  in  crude  oil.  After  such  collection  for  ten  days,  the  trap 
plants  should  be  uprooted  and  burned  immediately  with  the  aid  of 
crude  oil. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  at  various  times  that  grazing  the  cot- 
ton fields  with  cattle  is  in  some  cases  equivalent  to  destruction  in  the 
way  that  has  been  suggested.  However,  in  many  parts  of  the  infested 
area  there  are  not  sufficient  cattle  to  accomplish  the  work,  and,  more- 
over, in  very  many  fields  the  cattle,  by  disseminating  Johnson  grass 
and  other  plant  pests,  would  undoubtedly  do  more  harm  than  good. 
At  the  same  time  the  most  thorough  grazing  always  leaves  a  few  green 
sprouts  or  leaves  upon  which  weevils  may  feed,  and  of  course  leaves 
the  stalks  standing,  so  that  the  process  of  leafing,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
weevils,  may  continue  indefinitely.  Where  the  condition  of  the  fields 
permits  and  the  supply  of  cattle  is  sufficient,  grazing  the  fields  should 
be  practiced,  but  this  can  not  generally  be  the  case  in  the  infested  area. 

DIFFICULTIES. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  understands  that  there  are  some  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  a  universal  following  of  the  recommendations 
given  in  this  circular.  The  principal  ones  are  the  almost  universal  hope 
for  a  top  crop  and  in  the  labor  conditions  consequent  from  the  more  or 
less  universal  tenant  system  of  producing  the  staple.  These  difficulties 
are  increased  by  the  general  scarcity  of  labor  in  the  South,  which  is 
becoming  more  and  more  a  serious  problem  in  raising  cotton. 

Planters  in  infested  localities  must  understand  that  with  the  presence 
of  the  weevil  there  is  no  longer  an}'  hope  of  a  top  crop.  It  is  true  that 
after  considerable  cotton  has  matured,  and  after  the  plants  have  applied 
their  energy  to  the  formation  of  seeds  and  lint,  fall  rains  often  stimulate 
the  production  of  a  great  number  of  squares.  Many  planters  are  misled 
by  this  into  the  hope  of  gathering  a  large  top  crop.  The  joints  of  the 
plant  are  short  and  the  squares  are  formed  rapidly  and  close  together. 
Though  weevils  may  have  been  exceedingly  numerous  in  the  fields,  the 
presence  of  this  abundance  of  food  causes  them  to  scatter,  and  they  are 
consequently  temporarily  somewhat  less  in  evidence.  In  many  cases 
blooms  appear  and  the  hope  for  a  top  crop  increases.  Nevertheless, 
this  production  of  squares  also  contributes  to  the  production  of  a  large 
number  of  weevils  late  in  the  season  and  just  at  the  time  for  their  suc- 
cessful hibernation.  As  a  result  of  this  fact  great  injury  is  done  to  the 
crop  of  the  following  season,  with  no  gain  whatever,  or  a  very  small 
one,  in  the  yield  of  the  current  season.  From  these  considerations  it 
seems  plain  that  within  the  weevil  territory  all  hope  of  a  top  crop  must 
be  given  up  and  the  destruction  of  the  plants  be  practiced  as  early  in 
the  fall  as  possible. 

Another  important  difficulty  lies  in  the  tenant  S3'stem.  It  is  usually 
the  practice  to  terminate  the  work  of  the  tenant  with  the  picking  of  the 
cotton,  leaving  the  clearing  of  the  field  for  the  next  cropper.  At  present, 
after  the  cotton  is  picked  the  tenants  frequently  move  to  other  planta- 

A6 2? 


ti.ms  or  to  other  parts  of  the  same  plantation.  It  should  noi  be  a  dif- 
ficult matter  "Tor  planters  to  induce  their  tenants  to  practice  th< 

action  of  the  plants  as  the  last  step  in  the  production  of  a  crop. 

In  any  case  the  plants  ha\e  t'>  he  removed  before  the  ground  can  be 
prepared  for  planting  the  following  season;  and  the  present  recom- 
mendation merely  involves  applying,  at  a  time  some  months  earlier, 
the  same  amount  of  labor  as  is  necessary  in  the  spring.  The  best  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulty  arising  from  the  tenant  system  would  be  in  the 
inclusion,  in  the  agreement  between  the  landlord  and  the  tenant,  of  a 
provision  which  would  bind  the  latter  to  dean  the  land  thoroughly 
before  leaving  it. 

In   a   comparatively  small   area   in   BOUthwesten  it    might    he 

considered  that  there  would  he  a  further  objection  in  the  practice  which 
some  farmers  have  of  encouraging  the  growth  of  volunteer  or  seppa 
cotton  in  the  hope  of  procuring  an  early  and  inexpensive  crop.  As  bas 
been  repeatedly  pointed  out  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  this  is 
beyond  question  the  worst  possible  practice  in  weevil-infested  regions. 
The  disastrous  experii  several  counties  in  the  southern  portion  of 

the  State  during  several  seasons  has  abundantly  demonstrated  the  force 
of  the  warnings  that  have  been  issued  from  time  to  time.  The  staple 
produced  by  volunteer  plants  is  short,  kinky,  and  undesirable.  Before 
the  advent  of  the  weevil  the  only  reason  for  encouraging  such  growth 
was  to  procure  the  first  hale.  Now.  on  account  of  its  vi  ry  detrimental 
bearing  on  the  weevil  problem,  any  attempt  to  raise  cotton  from  volun- 
teer cotton  should  by  all  means  he  discouraged. 

The  point  may  he  raised  that  the  burning  of  the  plants  in  the  fall 
removes  valuable  fertilizing  constituents  and  that  the  continuance  of 
the  practice  would  seriously  reduce  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  In  refer- 
ence to  this  matter,  however,  it  must  he  stated  that  the  present  general 
practice  is  to  clear  the  fields  hy  burning  the  plants  in  the  Bpring. 
Therefore,  practically  the  only  additional  draft  upon  the  soil  hy  the 
method  recommended  is  in  the  burning  of  many  of  the  leaves  and  a 
portion  of  the  roots.  However,  destruction  of  the  plants  can  only  take 
place  after  many  of  the  leaves  have  fallen,  and.  in  other  cases,  when 
the  plants  have  become  completely  defoliated  by  the  cotton  caterpillar. 
The  fertilizing  constituents  in  various  parte  of  the  cotton  plant  have 
been  carefully  determined.1  An  estimate  of  the  value  of  all  the  con- 
stituents which  could  possibly  be  removed  hy  fall  destruction,  I 
upon  the  schedule  of  trade  values  adopted  by  experiment  station 

.  shows  that  the  loss  per  acre  would  he  very  small.  It  is  plain 
that  the  planter  could  not  only  regain  this  small  loss  but  actually 
greatly  increase  the  fertility  of  the  land  by  the  use  of  commercial  fer- 
tilizers, which  would  cost  an  inconsiderable  amount  in  comparison  with 
the  gain  in  the  following  crop,  as  a  result  of  lessened  damage  hy  the 
boll  weevil.  In  some  Cases,  of  course,  the  removal  of  humus  furnished 
by  the  stalks  may  he  more  important  than  the  removal  of  the  fertilizing 
elements.      It  is  urged,  however,  that  the   cheapest  and   :  ctive 

way  to  add  humus  to  the  soil  is  by  green  manuring,  whicl  iving 

more  and  more  attention  throughout  the  cotton  belt. 

As   a   matter  of  fact,  the   preceding   objections   are  not    necessarily 
serious.     They  deal  with  general  changes  in  cotton  culture  made  o< 

Bulletin  33  of  tin   i>:!j,-0  of  Kxperiment  Stations  of  this  Department,  pp. 
SI  to  141?. 

A« 23 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 


1262  09216  4929 


Sary  by  the  ravages  of  the  boll   weevil.     As  is  beginning  to  be  well 
known  to  planters,  it  will  not  be  possible  for  tenants  to'work  as  much 
land  as  formerly.     More  cotton  will  be  produced  by  decreasi 
and  increasing  the  attention  given  to  what  remains.     If  I 
the  objections  mentioned  will  largely  disappear. 

CONCLUSION. 

Having  studied  and  tested  the  methods  of  weevil  control  which  hi 
been  hitherto  recommended,  the  writer  firmly  believes  that  the 
tion  of  the  stalks  in  the  early  fall  is  the  most  effective  method  known 
of  actually  reducing  the  numbers  of  the  pest.     This  destruction  will 
cost  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  expense  necessary  in  the  frequent  pick- 
ing up  in  the  spring  of  the  squares  infested  by  the  hibernated  v 
and  is  far  more  thorough  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  num 
weevil   than   is  the  practice  of  picking  hibernated   weevils  from    I 
young  plants.     Early  destruction  of  the  stalks  is  essential  to  the  great- 
est success  of  any  system  of  controlling  the  pest.     All  other  p 
recommended,  though  very  valuable  in  securing  a  crop,  are  of  tl 
est  value  as  they  are  followed  in  connection  with  this  one  prin  itial. 

Since  the  earliest  investigations  of  the  boll  weevil  made  by  this  Depart- 
ment, it  has  been  recognized  and  pointed  out  by  D».  L.  O.  Howard  that 
this  practice  is  of  the  first  importance,  and  the  experience  of  recent 
years  lias  added  but  certainty  to  this  conviction.  A  number  of  planters 
have  adopted  it,  and  their  work  and  the  large-scale  work  by  the  Bureau 
of  Entomology  have  abundantly  demonstrated  its  effectiveness. 
must  not  be  thought  that  the  procuring  of  the  immediate  the 

only  thing  to  be  desired.     Early  and  complete  destruction  of  Hip  sta 
is  undoubtedly  the  most  important  single  element  insuring 
the  subsequent  year. 

Concerted  action  in  fall  destruction  is,  of   course,  desirable.     The 
greatest  benefit  will  result  only  when  whole   communities  adopt  I 
method.     But  no  planter  should  hesitate  on  account  of  the  indiffi 
of  his  neighbors.     The  fact  that  weevils  move  about  but  little  until  the 
time  when  the  bulk  of  the  crop  is  safe  will  assist  materially  in  saving 
one  field  though  near-by  ones  have  not  been  properly  treated,  ai 
under  such  circumstances  the  success  of  the  method  in  one  field  will 
a  powerful  stimulus  toward  its  general  adoption  the  following  season. 

It  is  true  that  the  recommendations  contained  in  this  circular  involve 
considerable  change  in  the  culture  of  cotton.     Nevertheless  the  impor- 
tant changes  that  have  been  brought  about,  up  to  this  time,  in  the  i. 
of  improved  seed  and  fertilizers  have  also  been  revolutionary  in  tl  ■ 
character.     It  is  hoped  by  the  Department  that  the  agencies  assist 
in  this  matter — namely,  organizations  of  business  men— will  everywhere 
devote  the  same  energy  toward  encouraging  the  practice  of  what  is,  after 
all,  the  most  important  step  in  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  cott. 
crop  in  the  weevil  territory. 

Approved : 

James  Wilson, 

JSecretary  of  Agriculture. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Septembers,  1908. 

O 

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